Baptisia
has gained its greatest reputation as a remedy in typhoid fever, to the symptoms of which
its pathogenesis strikingly corresponds. But it is only when it is used strictly in
accordance with its symptoms that it will give successful results. When given as a matter of
routine there are sure to be failures. Another disease in which it has proved specific in a
large number of cases is epidemic influenza. The besotted countenance, bleary eyes, aching
head, sore throat, pains and soreness all over the body, and profound prostration which are
present in all typical cases indicate Baptisia before
any other remedy.

Among the chief symptoms of the remedy are the following: Stupor, falls
asleep whilst being spoken to, confused as if drunk. Cannot keep his mind together, a wild
wandering feeling. This scattered feeling is further exemplified in the illusion that the
body is double; limbs separated and conversing with each other; can't sleep because body
seems scattered about and cannot collect pieces. There is a dull heavy sensation in head
with drowsiness and heavy eyelids. The head feels large, with a numb feeling of head and
face. Bruised headache; soreness as if in brain; bruised feeling in occiput; heavy feeling
at base of brain with drawing in cervical muscles. Frontal headache with pressure at root of
nose. The neck is tired, cannot hold head easy in any position. The eyes cannot bear light;
burn; are weak; painful on reading. Weight on eyes; eyeballs sore, lame on moving.
Blear-eyed. Lids partially paralysed. An illusion of smell "as of burnt feathers"
has been caused and cured by it. Pain in left parotid gland. Flat, bitter taste. Tongue
swollen; feels numb; speech difficult. Is coated whitish yellow, and feels burnt or scalded.
Dry, parched, brown centre; cracked and ulcerated. Canker sores in mouth. Ulcerations. The
sore-mouth of sucklings. Painlessness is a feature in the sore throat; putrid, painless,
dark ulcers. sophagus feels constricted down to stomach; can only swallow liquids; cases
of convulsive contraction of sophagus and cardiac orifice, with regurgitation of food,
have been cured by it. In one case, that of an old man, food could be swallowed and retained
some days, but not on others. He had always liked very hot food. The sophagus was red and
granular. Bapt. 12 cured. Nausea, retching and vomiting.
Sinking, gone feeling. Pain in liver; and especially in gall-bladder; in spleen; in right
iliac region; in groins; glands swollen. Soreness of abdominal muscles and right iliac
region. Fetid exhausting diarrha; dysentery in autumn or hot weather. Worms. The urine is
high-coloured, scanty, alkaline, fetid. Orchitis, squeezed pain in testes. Hale considers it
specific in threatened miscarriage from mental depression, shock of bad news, watching,
fasting, or low fever. Patients in these conditions often complain of "dreadful sinking
at the stomach," fetid breath and other symptoms of Baptisia.
Many cases of phthisis are relieved by this remedy when the symptom and type of fever
correspond. Lumbar backache. Feels as if lying on a board. Pain in sacrum. Weakness of lower
limbs. Left foot much prickling and numbness. Numbness and soreness are very general in Baptisia patients. It has cured hysteria with prostration,
numbness and fear of paralysis, wanted to die, rubbed hands continually, restlessness. The
bed feels hard. There is excessive drowsiness. < On
waking; < walking; <
open air; < cold wind; <
autumn or hot weather.

Stupor; falls asleep while being spoken
to, or answering; heavy sleep till aroused; awakes only to again fall asleep in the midst of
his answer, which he vainly endeavours to finish.─Indisposed to think,
want of power; mind seems weak, confused, as if drunk.─Cannot confine
his mind: a sort of wild, wandering feeling.─Gloomy, unhappy state of
mind.─Body feels scattered about, tosses around to get the pieces
together; cannot sleep because he cannot get pieces together.─Mind
wanders as soon as the eyes are closed.─Mentally restless but too
lifeless to move.─Indisposed to think; inability to memorise.─< When thinking of pains in various parts of body.

2. Head.─

Vertigo, and weak feeling of entire
system, esp. lower limbs and knees.─Vertigo, with paralysis of eyelids.─Peculiar
feeling in head, which is never felt except during fever, excitement of brain such as
precedes delirium.─Dull, heavy pressive headache.─Frontal
headache, with pressure at root of nose; with feeling of fulness and tightness of whole
head.─Head feels large and heavy, with numbness of head and face.─Sharp
darts of pain in supraorbital nerve at foramen.─Frequent sharp pains by
spells in r. and l. temple.─Soreness in the brain, worse on stooping.─Top
of head feels as if it would fly off.─Dull, bruised feeling in occiput.─Skin
of forehead feels tight.─Scalp feels sore.─Sensation
as if head swelling.─Neck feels so tired she cannot hold her head easy
in any position.

3. Eyes.─

Cannot bear light eyes burn but do not
water.─Feeling as if eyes would be pressed into head eyeballs feel sore,
with great confusion of sight; cannot place anything until after looking at it a few
seconds; everything appears to move.─Severe pains in eyes on reading,
compelling to stop.─Bloated feeling of eyes, glistening; disposition to
have them half closed.─Eyeballs feel sore; sore and lame on moving them.─Partial
paralysis of lids.

Dull pain at root of nose; crampy
sensation.─Sneezing and feeling as after a severe cold; slight bleeding
from r. nostril of bright red blood, thick.─Epistaxis of dark blood.─Sensation
of fulness; dema of affected parts, esp. in choanæ.─Illusion of
smell: as of burnt feathers.

Sordes on the teeth and lips.─Tongue
yellow along the centre; first white, with reddish papillæ, followed by yellow-brown
coating in centre, edges dark-red and shining; dry, brown down the centre; cracked, sore,
ulcerated.─Filthy taste with flow of saliva.─Saliva
rather abundant, somewhat viscid, tasting flat.─Numb, pricking sensation
in tongue.─Putrid ulcers of the buccal cavity, with salivation.─Mouth
and tongue very dry in fevers.─Putrid; offensive; fæcal breath.─Flat,
bitter taste in mouth.

9. Throat.─

Pain and soreness of fauces.─Constrictive
feeling in throat, causing frequent efforts at deglutition.─Throat feels
swollen or full.─Fauces dark-red; dark, putrid ulcers; tonsils and
parotids swollen; absence of pain, and great prostration.─Difficult
deglutition; can only swallow water; sophagus feels as if constricted from above down to
stomach.

11. Stomach.─

Sinking, gone feeling at the
stomach.─Constant desire for water, with nausea and want of appetite.─Great
thirst.─Loss of appetite; averse to nourishment and stimulants.─All
symptoms < from beer.─At night,
frequent pain in the epigastric region; < from
turning over, which he had to do all the time.─Full feeling in stomach.─Heavy
gnawing in stomach.─Burning heat rising up to throat.─Pains
in stomach; feeling there as of a hard substance.

12. Abdomen.─

Pain in liver, from r. lateral
ligament to gall-bladder; can scarcely walk, it so augments pain in gall-bladder.─Constant
severe pain over gall-bladder.─Constant pain in stomach and liver; < walking; hot sensation; heavy aching in liver.─Pain
in liver region on going upstairs.─Constant aching distress in stomach
and umbilical region.─Pain in region of spleen, with darts of pain in
body, esp. in carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges.─R. iliac region
sensitive.─Fulness and distension of the abdomen.─Abdominal
muscles sore on pressure.─Sharp, rheumatic pains in groins, lasting a
short time but returning after short interval, < from
walking.─Glands of l. groin swollen; painful on walking.

13. Stool and Anus.─

Frequent small, thin, dark,
offensive, and acrid stools.─Very fetid, exhausting diarrha;
excoriating.─Stool papescent, with large quantities of mucus; no pain.─Dark-brown
mucous and bloody stools, with tenesmus and typhoid tendency.─Dysentery:
rigors, pains in limbs and small of back; stools small, all blood, not very dark but thick;
tenesmus; great prostration, brown tongue, low fever; in autumn or in hot weather,
constipation; severe, with hæmorrhoids; in afternoon.─Stricture from
piles.

Aphonia.─Larynx
sore to touch, painful swallowing or speaking.─Fetid breath.─Awakes
with great difficulty of breathing; the lungs feel tight and compressed; must have fresh
air.

18. Chest.─

Constriction and oppression of the
chest.─Weight and oppression in precordial region, with a feeling of
unsatisfied breathing; afternoon.─Sharp pains in centre of sternum.─Dull
stitches in l. nipple.

19. Heart and Pulse.─

Feeling of greatly increased
compass and frequency of heart's pulsations; seem to fill chest.─Pulse
at first accelerated, afterward slow and faint.

20. Neck and Back.─

Neck tired; sore down neck.─Stiffness
and lameness of cervical muscles; < on moving head.─Back
and hips very stiff, ache severely; < walking.─Feels
as if lying on a board; changes position often, bed feels so hard; <
in region of sacrum.─Dull sacral pain, compounded of a feeling as from a
pressure and fatigue, from long stooping; soon extending round hips and down r. leg.

21. Limbs.─

Wandering pains in all the limbs with
dizziness.─Drawing pains in arms and legs; aching in the limbs.

22. Upper Limbs.─

Constant twitching in l.
deltoid.─Pain in l. shoulder, extending down arm.─Pains
in bones of arms and hands.─Numbness of l. hand and forearm, with
prickling.

23. Lower Limbs.─

Soreness in front of thighs, < after sitting.─Limbs weak and
vacillating.─L. foot numb, prickles.─Burning of top
of r. foot from toes to back of foot.

24. Generalities.─

Restless; does not sleep
quietly; wants to be on the move.─Great languor; wants to lie down.─Tired,
bruised, sick feeling in all parts of the body.─Weak and tremulous, as
if recovering from a severe illness.─Great weakness, esp. in lower
limbs.─Prostration, with disposition of fluids to decompose.─Indescribable
sick feeling all over.─Numbness prickling and paralytic feeling over the
whole body, esp. l. side.─Ulceration of mucous membranes, esp. of the
mouth, with tendency to putrescence.─Discharges and exhalations fetid.─Sensation
all over the body as if bruised or beaten.─Feels as if lying on a board;
changes position, bed feels so hard makes him feel sore and bruised.

25. Skin.─

Great burning and heat in skin; < in face.─Livid spots over body and
limbs.─Eruption like measles or urticaria.─Confluent
small-pox, tardy eruption.─Foul, gangrenous, eating syphilitic sores.

26. Sleep.─

Delirious stupor; falls asleep while
answering a question or being talked to.─Sleeps well till 2 or 3 a.m.,
then restless till morning.─Drowsy, stupid, tired feeling; disposition
to half close the eyes.─Restless, with frightful dreams.─Wants
to get out of bed.─Cannot sleep, limbs seem scattered about so.

27. Fever.─

Chilly going into the open air; chills
over the back and lower limbs.─Chilly, with soreness of body.─Whole
surface hot and dry, with occasional chills, mostly up and down the back.─On
awaking, 3 a.m., flashes of heat; feeling as if sweat would break out.─An
uncomfortable burning all over surface, esp. face; moves to cool part of bed; finally rises,
opens window and washes.─Typhoid and cerebral forms of fever.─Beginning
of typhus when the so-called nervous symptoms predominate; causes sweat to break out and
relieve; typhus; critical sweat on forehead and face.─Fever originating
from confinement on shipboard, without good care or food.─Fetid sweat.